Digital Trends
One of Apple ’s recent concentrate on iOS and watchOS is genial health and wellness . In the most recent watchOS 10 and iOS 17 updates , Apple add together Mindfulness gaining control , which lets you lumber your mood for the sidereal day or how you feel at a finicky moment . Similarly , it also launcheda new Journal app .
Though Apple announced the Journal app in June ’s WWDC23 tonic , Journal was absent from the initial iOS 17 release . With iOS 17.2 , Apple finally released Journal to the populace as another shaft for better mental health and wellbeing .
Apple ’s Journal app is now another option for users who want to keep a digital diary of their memories and reflections . But the market already has some well - established options , such as Day One , which I have personally used for several years . As someone who has anxiety and a moment of depression , journaling has always been one of my methods of catharsis .
So , does Apple ’s Journal hold a candle to these democratic journal apps from third - party developers ? Let ’s find out .
Apple’s Journal is a little too simple
When you plunge Journal for the first time , you ’ll go through some prompts that introduce the app to you and show you how to get bulge with journaling . It ’s reasonably self - explanatory for someone who has been journaling already , but it ’s a in effect introduction for beginners .
Once you get past that , you ’ll somewhat much find a blank canvas . Tapping the large button at the bottom will bestow up suggestions that are establish on the bodily process and moments on your iPhone . These suggestions include photos and videos , workouts , locations , contacts , music encounter , and more . Select one of these good word or pull one from late story , and Journal will add all that into a new entryway . you could tote up text edition for more context if needed .
But when you use one of these suggestions , you ’ll have to exchange the entry escort to the moment ’s date manually ; otherwise , it will ( curiously ) default to the current mean solar day ’s escort .
There are also “ Reflections , ” which are writing prompts that are helpful if you are stuck . Apple said it practice AI for these suggestions and reflections , but they are n’t very personal and much more generic than I ’d like . Maybe it will get better through machine eruditeness after you use it for a while ( along with the Mindfulness seizure and other Health data ) , but so far , the reflexion prompting definitely feel more like a general gratitude daybook .
When tote up text edition to an unveiling , whether it ’s from one of the suggestions or just a clean new entryway , it ’s pretty barebones . you could format the text with bluff , italics , underscore , and strikethrough with the standard iOS text menu ( select text and bring up that little popup menu ) , but there ’s no text edition formatting toolbar like in most other text - based apps . You ca n’t even make a bullet breaker point list easily , which is surprising .
In addition to text , you’re able to add photos , videos , short audio cartridge holder , and locations to your new launching . Locations are helpful to have in diary entries as they add necessary context for why you palpate a certain path — perhaps a specific location take a crap you feel glad , while another relate a bad incident that makes you upturned .
Overall , the Journal app is simple , but it ’s alsotoosimple , in my thought . Once you lead off adding entries , there ’s no way to seek past entry for something , so you ’ll have to scroll through and trust you find what you call for .
And while there are filters , it only lets you filter entryway by photos , videos , and bookmarked if you favorite any . There ’s no mode to sink in by date , location , or even add tag . thing are also made regretful by the fact that the engagement is too small and hard to see , as it ’s located at the bottom of an accounting entry when viewing the primary screen .
Day One does it better — a lot better
Apple ’s Journal app is quite barebones and has a long way to go if it wants to be a serious journaling pick . Of course , I ’m not trusted if Apple planned to sherlock third - company journaling apps with its first Journal app attempt , but if so , then there is a lot of room for advance .
For one , Journal take a lookup choice , because once you start to fill it up , it ’ll become unmanageable if you want to find something specific . Even shred would help with establishment . It would also be decent to have the option for multiple journal , as that ’s how my Day One is set up at the moment .
It ’s also surprising that , for a journaling app , there ’s no way to look at throwback entries in Apple ’s Journal , which is a common characteristic that you ’d expect from an app of this nature . What I stand for by this are those “ On this day ” or random old entry that crop up up for you to revisit and relive . After all , when you keep a diary , one of the good percentage is to open up it up to a random entry and just reflect on it .
Another affair I like about Day One is that I can view my entries via a map or even a calendar sentiment to see all the 24-hour interval I log an entry at a glimpse . The Journal app lack both of these views despite the fact that you could add location data to submission .
There ’s also a lack of templates besides the suggestions and reflection prompt , and there is n’t even a widget . And the most rummy part is that Apple did not bring Journal to theiPadorMac .
While I typically just throw in my picture into a Day One accounting entry on myiPhone 15 Pro , I would much prefer typing in the text on my Mac or even an iPad with a keyboard bond over the touch screen iPhone keyboard . It ’s foreign that Apple does not have an iPad or Mac version of Journal in iPadOS 17 or Sonoma . I would think the iPad would make the most mother wit even , especially with Apple Pencil sustenance . But , as it stands correctly now , your iPhone is the only way to get at the app .
The Journal app has a long way to go
As a user of Day One for over a decade , I ’m not sure I could ever see myself switching from it to Apple ’s Journal app — peculiarly in its current state . It ’s just way too simple and lack even the most canonical things you ’d anticipate from a journaling app . Perhaps I ’m not the target demographic for Apple ’s app , especially since there is n’t even an importee / exportation alternative .
Apple ’s Journal app is a good way for someone who has n’t journaled for class to get started . After all , simplicity is a tie for some people ; open up it up and jot down your thoughts and feeling , tally some photos , and you ’re done .
For my use , though , it feels like Apple overhyped the Journal app . It ’s fine for what it is , but there ’s no concealment its deficiency of feature article compare to third - party options . I hope to see Apple append features to make Journal more utilitarian for those who choose to expend it , but I wo n’t be switching any clock time soon .
